Internationale dag ter uitbanning van geweld tegen vrouwen (en)
On November 25, 1960, three Dominican sisters, political activists known as the Hermanas Mirabal, were brutally assassinated for opposing the Trujillo dictatorship. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women remembers this day.
Since 1981, as a tribute to the Mirabal sisters, as well as global recognition of gender violence, the date 25 November has been marked by women's activists as a day against violence against women. Following the adoption of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women by resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993, the United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999, designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, inviting governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities on the day designed to raise public awareness of the problem of maltreatment of women.
© European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari
In a declaration on behalf of the European Union, High Representative Catherine Ashton underlines the EU's commitment to support the elimination of violence against women. She states that "Violence and abuse affect women from all kinds of backgrounds every day. As many as seven in ten women around the world report having experienced physical violence at some point in their lifetime."
She went on to say that "the violence knows no geographical, cultural, social, economic or educational boundaries. It is a phenomenon that affects all societies and takes many gruesome forms: from sexual harassment to female genital mutilation, forced marriage to honour killings. Violence against women is arguably the most widespread human rights violation of our time. A violation that claims millions of victims every year and causes terrible physical and emotional pain."
© European Parliament/Pietro Naj-Oleari
A promise is a promise: UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls in all parts of the world.
UNiTE brings together a host of UN agencies and offices to galvanize action across the UN system to prevent and punish violence against women.
Through UNiTE, the UN is joining forces with individuals, civil society and governments to put an end to violence against women in all its forms.
© Flickr/Eric Constantineau
What is the EU doing to End Violence against Women?
Catherine Ashton declares on behalf of the EU, "We must not only help prevent violence; we must also work to provide women with access to economic opportunities, to ensure their equal participation in public life, repeal laws and practices that continue to discriminate against them and ensure that homes, offices, streets and schools are safe for women and girls."
She continues by saying "we have made protection against gender-based violence a key feature of the EU's human rights strategy. And we have cleared the way for greater cooperation between the EU and the UN on this agenda. Women and girls are particularly targeted and vulnerable in conflict situations. We have therefore made it a priority for the EU's military and police missions to prevent and combat gender-based violence."
She went on to give examples where the EU is actively promoting human rights. "The EU's mission in Kosovo is, for example, already involved in the investigation and prosecution of war rape cases and in strengthening the fight against human trafficking. And the EU is spending € 4 million to reduce violence against women in Egypt."
The elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls is the priority theme of the UN Commission on the Status of Women's 57th session, which will be held in March 2013. The EU will work to ensure the Commission's success."
© EU
Do you know what this ribbon represents?
The UNiTE campaign proclaims every 25th of the month as Orange Day, aiming to raise awareness about the issue of violence against women and girls, not only once a year on 25 November (the International Day to End Violence against Women), but every month! The first in a series of Orange Days was launched on 25 July 2012 leading up to the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in March next year.
The UNiTE campaign also launched the ribbon as a symbol for preventing and ending violence against women and girls.
So, what can YOU do to help end violence?
Start by joining a UNiTE initiative. Find out more here
Join the Say NO - UNiTE to End Violence against Women global interactive platform that supports and demonstrates local and national advocacy efforts towards ending violence against women and girls
Visit the Orange Day to End Violence against Women and Girls page on Facebook
o Wear orange and invite others to do so on every 25th of the month
o Help to make the UNiTE Ribbon symbol universal by sharing the photo on your social media every 25th of the month
o Update your Facebook or Twitter status
Visit the global Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls
Support the Stop Rape Now GET CROSS! initiative
The Mirabal sisters
Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa were born to Enrique Mirabal and Maria Mercedes Reyes (Chea) in 1924, 1927 and 1935 respectively in the Cibas region of the Dominican Republic. They had a fourth sister, Bélgica. The Mirabals were farmers and their daughters grew up in a relatively upper class, cultured environment, Minerva and Maria Teresa going on to achieve university degrees.
All three sisters and their husbands became involved in activities against the Trujillo regime. The Mirabal sisters were political activists and highly visible symbols of resistance to Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Consequently they were constantly persecuted for their outspoken as well as clandestine activities against the State. Over the course of their political activity, the women and their husbands were repeatedly imprisoned at different stages. Minerva herself was imprisoned on four occasions. Nevertheless the sisters still continued to actively participate in political activities against the leadership. In January 1960, Patria took charge of a meeting that eventually established the Clandestine Movement of 14 June 1960 in which all the sisters participated. When this plot against the tyranny failed, the sisters and their comrades in the Clandestine Resistance Movement were persecuted throughout the country.
In early November 1960, Trujillo declared that his two problems were the Church and the Mirabal sisters. On 25 November 1960, the sisters were assassinated in an "accident" while being driven to visit their husbands in prison. The brutal assassination of the Mirabal sisters caused public outcry and was one of the events that triggered the anti-Trujillo movement, and within a year, the Trujillo dictatorship came to an end.
© Flickr/la india del cibao
The sisters, referred to as the "Inolvidables Mariposas", the "Unforgettable Butterflies" have become a symbol against victimization of women. They have become the symbol of both popular and feminist resistance, commemorated in poems, songs and books. Their execution inspired a fictional account "In the Time of the Butterflies" on the young lives of the sisters written by Julia Alvarez. It describes their suffering and martyrdom in the last days of the Trujillo dictatorship.
The memory of the Mirabal sisters and their struggle for freedom and respect for human rights for all has transformed them into symbols of dignity and inspiration. They are symbols against prejudice and stereotypes, and their lives raised the spirits of all those they encountered and later, after their death, not only those in the Dominican Republic but others around the world.
Some of the events organised by EU delegations on the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women:
Saturday 24 November: The EU Delegation in Peru is supporting the campaign "Cartas de mujeres Perú" (Letters from women - Peru), in which women, men, teenagers and children are encouraged to write letters as a tool to expose and eliminate violence against women and girls. The launching of the campaign took place in the Plaza Mayor of Lima, with a live free concert. Cartas de Mujeres Peru is also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CartasdeMujeresPe
Sunday 25 November: In Dhaka EU diplomats will join DFID in a visit to the Acid Survivors Foundation. The Foundation was set up in 1999 by women's rights activists and concerned citizens of Bangladesh, intent on raising alertness and providing support to survivors of the country's prevalent acid attacks. Acid attacks are a particularly vicious and damaging form of violence against women, resulting in permanent disfigurement and serious psychological impact on the victim and their families. "
Sunday 25 November: The EU Delegation and the EU Info Centre in Iceland have joined teams with the national committee of UN Women. The annual candle light vigil of UN Women will end at the Reykjavik European Film Festival where the acclaimed British film Tyrannosaur will be screened especially. Posters on the theme of eliminating violence against women will also be on display in the cinema, in cooperation with the UN Regional Office in Brussels.
Tuesday 27 November: The EU Delegation in The Gambia co-hosts an event with the UN Country Team - a round table discussion with partipants, including civil society organisations working on women's rights, female university students, Government officials and diplomats. The press is invited to cover the event.
27-28 November: The EU Delegation in Armenia, together with the International Centre for Human Development n.g.o. and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, is co-organising a two-day seminar in Yerevan on "European values: non-discrimination" that will focus on domestic violence and gender discrimination, with participants including civil society organisations working on women's rights, female students from the university, Government officials and diplomats, and the press.
© EU
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